According to Venezuelan reporter Hernán Rodríguez, 18-year-old Venezuelan defender Naheul Ferraresi will join City Football Group this summer before moving to NYCFC in January 2018. Ferraresi will sign a contract with the parent company of New York City FC, Manchester City FC, Melbourne City FC and Club Atlético Torque according to the report. Rodríguez first broke the news on July 17th via his Twitter account.

According to Rodríguez, the decision as to where Ferraresi will go for the next six months lies ultimately with the players’ father. The two options the player and his father were presented with were continuing to play at his current club Deportivo Táchira through the end of the year or join CFG’s Uruguayan second division side, Club Atlético Torque through the end of the year. Regardless of where he spends the next six months, he is slated to join NYCFC in January.

Ferraresi is a center back who is currently playing for Deportivo Táchira in the Venezuelan first division. The young defender also starred for Venezuela’s U-20 national team side at the U-20 World Cup this summer alongside Yangel Herrera.

Further adding credence to the claims that Ferraresi’s will join CFG, Venezuelan reporter Federico Rojas claimed that the deal to sign Ferraresi and loan him to Torque was close to completion via his twitter account.

Why Signing With CFG?

If the move is happening there are several questions worth asking, the most important of which is which team is he actually signing with? City Football Group oversees various teams and as we saw with the signing of Yangel Herrera it can be a bit complicated at times. Reports cite a deal with CFG, however players can not be contracted to the group, they must be signed to a team. In the case of Herrera he was signed by Manchester City and immediately sent on loan to NYCFC. Another recent example is the signing of Uriel Antuna from Santos Laguna. Laguna themselves issued a statement saying the deal with signed with City Football Group, not Manchester City which he ultimately joined before going out on loan.

Why Not NYCFC Now?

The second question worth asking is if this move does go through, given New York City FC’s lack of depth at center back, is why isn’t he being signed by NYCFC.

As of now it’s unclear. Patrick Vieira has stated he is looking to bring in three players before the end of the transfer deadline including a defender. NYCFC also have two international roster spots available as per MLS. One would assume Ferraresi would be replacing an outgoing defender with a higher salary number in the winter such as Jefferson Mena (who is still on loan) or Frederic Brillant.

(Gennaro Pascale Caicedo / Prensa Deportivo Tachira) Nahuel Ferraresi

Limiting NYCFC is the roster budget. Vieira told reporters during training that they are targeting three players but they will have to be creative to sign them. Reports have put the cap space for NYCFC around $200k meaning New York City don’t have too much money to maneuver, however they can be creative.

With Miguel Camargo added to the season ending injury loan that number moves closer to $250k. Given that MLS salaries are prorated a player signed to a contract in midseason would only receive half of the annual pay through the end of the year. What that means is that three players earning $100k each at the beginning of the year would count as $300k total towards the budget but if signed midseason, would only lead to a cap hit of $150k total. This gives NYCFC much more room to operate than one can see at first glance. As of publishing, NYCFC have kept quiet in the transfer window without any names publicly linked to joining the side before the transfer deadline closes at the end of the day.

While it is still possible for Ferraresi to join NYCFC, recent reports indicate that he will be headed to Torque. Both Deportivo Táchira and NYCFC have not responded to a request to comment on the reports.

Update

On August 10th Chairman of Deportivo Táchira Jorge Silva confirmed that the deal was in place but not yet signed.

“It hasn’t been signed, but the agreement is that Nahuel Ferraresi plays 5 months in Uruguay [Club Torque] and then plays at New York City [FC].”

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